Historians claim that the main temple of the complex - the Temple of Jupiter - was built by the Romans in the 1st century AD. However, although this is already a fairly detailed historical period, it was not possible to find a single (!) Primary source where the Romans themselves mentioned at least one word either the construction of the temple, or any work associated with such construction. All references to Roman construction refer only to already modern literature
Moreover, it is believed that the construction of the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek was completed already under the famous Nero. However, the walls of the well-known "golden temple", which Nero built in Rome (the capital of the empire), are only plastered brickwork, which does not bear any comparison with the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek - a deep province of the Roman Empire …
Mythology, however, relates this structure to the time before the Flood …
The neighboring temples - the Temple of Venus and the Temple of Bacchus - cannot be compared with the Temple of Jupiter. They are quite consistent with the possibilities of the times of the Roman Empire …
In the main complex of the Temple of Jupiter, traces of repeated alterations and rebuildings in various epochs are simply visible in huge numbers.
Baalbek's southern stone
Contrary to the sometimes encountered statement, the so-called. The “South Stone” was not at all thrown by the builders along the road and was not lost during transportation - it remained lying in the quarry, and was not even completely separated from the rock foundation. The slope of the block is set by the general slope of the surface, which the rock mass had in this place.
Around the quarry, there were still upright stone blocks, also not separated from the rocky base. The passages dividing them are designed just for a person and (as well as the nature of the surface) fully correspond to the ancient quarries, where building materials were mined by hand.
However, the surface of the South Stone is noticeably different from the surface of the bulkhead below, which continues to connect it with the rock mass. So it is possible that the giant block itself was made at the same time, and they tried to finally separate it from the rock later.
Promotional video:
Plan of the main complex of Baalbek
In the first room of the so-called. Hexagon (hexagonal structure) the remains of the columns are laid as a simple foundation of the walls.
On one of the columns there are traces of a tool, giving the impression that the column was made on some kind of huge lathe …
Then what has left this trace?
In some places, you can find traces of simple sawing (possibly manually):
Granite columns around the so-called. The Central Courtyard looks like something alien, incompatible with the surrounding limestone and marble buildings. The columns are processed very well, with no visible errors.
The Temple of Bacchus, although from a distance, looks "solid", but does not have something particularly outstanding in its design.
The six surviving columns of the Temple of Jupiter are striking in their size. They were made, however, not from granite (as sometimes indicated in some sources), but from marble. The columns have traces of strong erosion and modern restoration patches …
A row of megaliths on the south side of the temple gives the impression of something unfinished. Its functional purpose is not clear, although it forms the wall of a long platform that stretches along the entire temple.
The purpose of the numerous square holes both in the walls of the temple and in the megaliths of the lower tier is also unclear. The explanation of the guide that they were knocked out by merchants to attach an awning over their shops raises strong doubts. Perhaps they could have been used for sheathing, for example, with wood, but this version is questionable.
One of the blocks of the lower tier, for some reason, they tried to additionally hamper, without bringing the matter to the end. The rounded edges of the machined part are not the trail of the round cutter, but the edge of the selected material (according to the movement of the tool during manual processing).
In the northern part of the Temple of Jupiter, the remains of columns are visible, between which blocks are squeezed into the careless masonry of a solid wall. It is believed that it was the Arabs who rebuilt the temple into a fortress, but both the version of the alteration by the Arabs (and not the same Romans) and the version of the fortress in general, since the complex is not protected by anything either from the east or from the south, raises doubts.
Against the background of the wall on the western side of the temple, there are the remains of columns that no one was able to remove …
The information that the steps in Baalbek are supposedly huge in size and are designed as if for giants does not stand up to verification. In fact, the steps correspond exactly to normal human growth.
But the very construction of the stairs is surprising. The staircase is made up of monolithic blocks, sometimes 7-8 steps at once. A strange and very laborious decision, because the ladder could have been made much easier.
Meanwhile, there are quite ordinary stairs here:
But next to them there are again huge blocks …
Large blocks along the edge in some places have a chamfer that is not completely finished. And for this they did not grind the surface, but simply removed a millimeter or two of stones …
The main courtyard of the complex is raised to a considerable height relative to the surrounding ground level. In the thickness of the masonry along the perimeter (it is not clear: with the letter "P" or around the entire perimeter) there are catacombs of impressive size with small branches. In the eastern part of the catacombs, there is now a small museum.
In the middle of the Main Courtyard is what is called an "altar" - a small structure of stone blocks (in the picture below - on the left), slightly towering above ground level in the Courtyard. However, on its eastern side there is an archaeological site, where you can see as many as 10 rows of masonry. Why this structure was made as high as a three-storey modern house, going into the ground, and why it was called the "altar" is not clear.
It can be assumed that at a certain period the level of the Main Courtyard was much lower (possibly at the level of the surrounding ground), and only later the Courtyard was filled up for some reason to its present state.
In the eastern wall of the Main courtyard there are several internal rooms, in one of which you can see composite (!!!) floor blocks. Apparently, they are connected inside with metal pins (as was sometimes practiced in ancient Greece). However, it is striking that for such a long time the composite blocks have not even bent anywhere, although the stone blocks of the ceiling lie on them …
On the north side of the temple of Jupiter is adjoined by a strange structure - a "mega-fence" of huge blocks. It is somewhat similar to the row of megaliths on the south side of the temple (see above), but here, in contrast to the south side, the gap between the “megalithic fence” and the temple wall is not filled with anything. An empty space of incomprehensible purpose is formed with a single small passage outside.
For some reason, strangely shaped notches were made at the junctions of the megaliths in the upper part of the “mega-fence”. Moreover, the chamfer at the edges of the megaliths follows the shape of the notch.
Of course, the most striking is the western wall of the platform under the Temple of Jupiter, where the famous trilithon is located - three huge blocks (a series of impressive sizes under the trilithon is like a continuation of the northern "mega-fence" that has turned around the corner). Why the builders needed exactly such exorbitant dimensions remains a mystery …
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The southern stone, which remained in the quarry, was clearly planned to be placed somewhere. There are no structures comparable in scale in the vicinity. And the only place that suggests itself is on top of a trilithon!.. The length of the South Stone is quite suitable here.
The difference in height between the upper edge of the trilithon is also consistent with this version (in the photo below: the fragment of the column lies exactly on the trilithon, and the edge of the upper staircase corresponds to the floor level of the Temple of Jupiter).
However, in this case, it turns out that the platform of the Temple of Jupiter was never completed!.. After all, the South stone remained in the quarry …
Strange parallel stripes on the top of the trilithon. Moreover, the lines do not run parallel to the edges of the blocks, but at a pronounced angle to them. At the same time, a pair of neighboring blocks are suspended as if on purpose parallel to these lines. Their origin is not clear. A variant of a prosaic explanation is not excluded: the stripes were left by some not very accurate archaeologists in the recent past …
An even bigger mystery: the rounded surface of one of the blocks in the west wall. It looks like a huge piece of a column, laid on its side. The block was excavated quite recently - the excavated soil has not even had time to be covered with grass.
However, this block is in masonry under (!!!) trilithon. And if this is really a piece of a column, then it works. that the mega-pad with a trilithon was built on the wreckage of an even more ancient structure!..
However, this is quite consistent with the legends that Baalbek was restored by some "giants" after the Flood. That is, the original structure was antediluvian. In this case, one can only guess about its initial form …
To relieve stress after so many mysteries - a snapshot of the complex in the evening twilight: